Christopher Layer Uilleann Pipes, Scottish Smallpipes, Irish Flute, Pennywhistle, and Scottish Highland Bagpipes: Christopher is a multi-instrumentalist, trained in both traditional and classical music. Chris is a native "Hoosier", and the son musicians: Soprano, Dolores Layer and Bluegrass Fiddler, Edwin Layer. He has appeared as an orchestral soloist in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Knoxville, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Portland, Seattle, St Louis, and Baltimore. Particular performance highlights for Mr. Layer include several sold-out performances with The National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center with the Irish pops production: A Celtic Celebration.
Christopher was named Artist in Residence by the Moab Music Festival in 2003: a position he still holds to this day. He spends his summers composing, playing, and teaching in Moab, Utah. He is the founder of the Moab Community Dance Band: a small contra dance orchestra that holds monthly social dances in Moab. Since 1996 he has been the principle pipe soloist and flautist for the Trinity Irish Dance Company touring worldwide. Layer is a also member of Noroeut: a Quebec-based quartet playing original and traditional music from that region, the Scottish dance band, Local Hero, and is the founder of a progressive acoustic quartet in NYC: The Spondoolix. His most recent project is a Scando-trad duo with fiddler and Nyckelharpa player, Sandra Wong.
As a freelance recording artist, Christopher has contributed his music to several film and television soundtracks, commercials, and countless recordings as a “sideman” for folksingers and songwriters.
Mr. Layer resides in Greenwich Village in New York City. His most recent CD: sTOneS unTURNeD-ReTURned with harpist, Martha Waldvogel-Warren has received critical acclaim in Europe and the U.S., and his newest solo recording is set to be released in the Winter of 2009.